Nordic Battle Group

The Nordic Battlegroup (NBG) is one of eighteen

European Union battlegroups. It consists of around
2,200 soldiers including ocers, with manpower contributed from the six participating countries (Sweden,
Finland, Norway, Ireland, Estonia and Latvia). The military strategic command of the force is done in cooperation with any of the suitable ve Operation Headquarters framework nations at the time for deployment.[1]
Denmark has opted out of the Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar of the EU, hence all battlegroups.
Norway has negotiated an opt-in to participate, even
though it is not an EU member state. Sweden, Finland
and Norway have planned to form a joint battlegroup.

Participating countries

Alert periods

1.1

2008

1.2

2011

the integration of additional resources. These resources

range from artillery, air defence, and intelligence to addiThe unit was ready for operations between January 2008 tional logistical support. Additional support in the form
of air, naval and special forces assets will be allocated
and June 2008.
based on the operational tasks the unit is expected to
perform.[2]

The battle group second alert period was between 1 January and 30 June 2011. This had been planned by a core
of sta ocers since January 2009. On the 31st of August 2009 the Key Nucleus of the Force Headquarters
arrived in Enkping in order to establish a functional sta.
During autumn 2009 the main focus has been education
and internal processes. Spring 2010 was used for planning, case study and exercise Combined Joint Sta Exercise CJSE 10. Autumn 2010 is an intense exercise period with Illuminated Summer 10, Initial Eort 10 and
Joint Action 10. 1 January the Nordic Battlegroup is on
standby to be deployed within 10 days. All personnel shall
be at their operating bases within 48 hours after the decision to launch an operation is taken.

3 Coat of arms
The units coat of arms, registered in 2008, is a blue shield
bearing a silver lion with red teeth and claws, holding in
his right forepaw a sword and in his left an olive branch,
both of gold.[3][4] The motto is Ad omnia paratus (Latin:
Prepared for anything).[4] The lion is a national symbol
common to the constituent countries of the Nordic Battle
Group except Ireland, and the sword and olive branch signify the ambition to impose peace - with or without the
use of violence.
The Nordic Battle Groups coat of arms was originally designed to incorporate heraldic elements and colours from
all member nations, including a lion that did not look
Finnish, Norwegian, Estonian or Swedish.[5]

Order of battle

In 2007 the commander ruled that the lions penis had

to be removed. Since civilian women are often sexually
abused in the war zones of the world, they did not consider the depiction of a penis appropriate on a uniform
worn into battle. However, this decision has been questioned by some Swedish heraldists, including heraldic
artist Vladimir Sagerlund, who has asserted that coats of
arms containing lions without a penis were historically

The unit uses a modular organisation with a mechanised

infantry battalion at its core (During NBG 2008 it was
the 41. Rapid Reaction Battalion, During NBG 2011 it
is the 192. Core Battalion, Norrbottens regemente (armoured)), which has been organised around Norrbottens
regemente (I19). During 2011 a framework exists for
1

5 EQUIPMENT

4 Force
As of February 2008, the Nordic Battlegroup consisted
of around 2,200 ocers and soldiers:[7]
Sweden: 1600
Finland: 250
Ireland: 150
Estonia: 100
Norway: 100
Starting from 2015[8] Latvia and Lithuania will also delegate their soldiers for Nordic battle group.

5 Equipment
5.1 Vehicles
Coat of arms with motto

Mowag Piranha (Armoured Personnel carrier) Ireland

Bandvagn 309 (Personnel carrier 309) Sweden
RG 32 Galten (High Mobility Wheeled Vehicle)
Sweden
XA-203 SISU (Armoured Personnel carrier) Finland
Mercedes-Benz G-Class (Softskin jeep) Finland
XA-180 (Armoured Personnel carrier) Sweden,
Finland, Estonia (XA-180EST)
Strf 9040 / CV90 (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) Sweden (Only NBG08)
Patria AMV Finland

5.2 Helicopters
Command sign

AgustaWestland AW109 (HKP 15)

Mil Mi-17
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk

given to those who had betrayed the Swedish Crown.[6]

In an unusual move, the Armed Forces Heraldry Council
authorised the Nordic Battle Group commanders use of
a command sign. This consisted of a bunting divided into
elds of blue, gold and blue with a Roman numeral V in
the gold eld, since the unit would be the fth mobilized
combat unit of the European Union.[5]

5.3 Aircraft
JAS 39 Gripen - (Fighter aircraft)
C-130 Hercules - (Military transport aircraft)
F/A-18 Hornet - (Fighter aircraft)

5.4

Small arms

Ak 5 - assault rie
Rk 95 TP - assault rie
Steyr AUG - assault rie
HK416 - assault rie
Psg 90 - sniper rie
Sako TRG-42 - Multi-purpose sniper rie
Ksp 58 - general purpose machine gun

[3] The ocial blazon (in Swedish) reads: "I bltt flt ett lejon
av silver med rd bevring hllande i hgra framtassen
ett svrd och i en vnstra en olivkvist, allt av guld." (See
Svenska Heraldiska Freningens vapendatabas: Nordic
Battle Group)
[4] Nordic Battle Group. Svenska Heraldiska Freningens
vapendatabas (in Swedish). Retrieved 2013-07-15.
[5] Braunstein, Christian (2007-12-10). Weapons and ags
for the NBG. Swedish Armed Forces. Retrieved 200903-31.
[6] Heraldists want penis reinstated on military badge. The
Local.se. Retrieved 2013-07-15.

Ksp 90 - light machine gun (SAW)

[7] Nordic Battlegroup. Archived from the original on

2008-03-03. Retrieved 2008-02-14.

PKM - Light machine gun

[8] https://peaveeb.vm.ee/?q=en/node/15617

Bofors AT4 - light anti-tank weapon

[9] Dsing, Pr (October 30, 2010). Stridsgruppen blev fr

dyr. Gteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved October
30, 2010.

NLAW - Smart anti-tank weapon

Glock 17 - Pistol

[10] Sweden Proposes Joint Nordic Battalion with Finland,

Norway, and Denmark.

Glock 19 - Pistol
MP-5 - Sub-machine gun
MP-7 - Sub-machine gun

Evaluation

On October 29, 2010 the ndings of an ocial audit by the Swedish National Audit Oce was published
which concluded with fundamental weaknesses in the
organizations logistics capabilities, internal cooperation
and personnel supply. According to the National Auditor, Jan Landahl, the Nordic Battle Group also suered
from inadequate control over expenditures and reporting
from the Government to the Riksdag was also unsatisfactory. The audit oces report found that twice as many
Swedish soldiers were assigned to the Battle Group compared to what the 2004 mandate had assigned, and the
costs to the State was in the multiples of what the Riksdag had been told.[9]
Swedish Armed Force chief General Sverker Gransson
has advocated for a Nordic Battalion Force to be more
narrowly focused on local defense.[10]

References

[1] Ulf K. Rask (2006-05-29). Inauguration of the Nordic

Battle Group Headquarters. Frsvarsmakten. Archived
from the original on 2006-08-24. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
[2] I FOKUS 2004: Fortsatt reformering av frsvaret (in
Swedish). Frsvarsmakten. 2004. Retrieved 2006-08-26.

8 External links
Inauguration of the Nordic Battle Group Headquarters HQ NBG
(Swedish) Nordic Battlegroup - svenskledd styrka
till EU:s snabbinsatsfrmga (NBG - Swedish led
force for EU rapid deployment capability)
(Swedish) Karl Engelbrektson blir chef fr Nordic
Battlegroup (Karl Engelbrektson becomes chief of
Nordic Battlegroup)
(Swedish) EU:s insatsstyrka bddar fr svensk yrkesarm (EU deployment force enables possibility for
Swedish professional army)
Swedish Nordic Battlegroup recruitment video
News article on death of NBG member during exercise, TheLocal.se
One for all, all for one? New Nordic Defence Partnership? Publication from the Nordic Council of
Ministers. Free download.

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Nordic Battle Group Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic%20Battle%20Group?oldid=630718868 Contributors: Patrick, Hammersfan, Klemen Kocjancic, Johan Elisson, Rannphirt anaithnid (old), Elpuellodiablo, MicaelJ, Sandstig, Hansag, Joriki, RicJac, Mandarax, Miq, Rjwilmsi, Victor12, MoRsE, Rms125a@hotmail.com, Dark Tichondrias, Yvwv, SmackBot, Slarre, Hibernian, Einemnet,
Tsca.bot, JLogan, Joelo, Optakeover, Meco, Andrwsc, Odengatan, RSido, CmdrObot, Lokal Prol, Heatsketch, Fifo, Hcobb, Mcgrath50, Blankku, Spartaz, DIEXEL, Walle83, CommonsDelinker, Ssolbergj, Skier Dude, Cometstyles, STBotD, Permafrost, Wilhelm
meis, Olly150, SQL, Dark Tea, Hxhbot, Victor Chmara, Mild Bill Hiccup, Narcassa, Alexbot, PixelBot, Kristoersson, Dsdnw, Julian1117,
DumZiBoT, Addbot, LaaknorBot, Zorrobot, Jarble, Luckas-bot, Malin Tokyo, Forza82, Eynn3000, Xqbot, This Feels Right, Wgh001,
Joshua06, Purpleturple, MastiBot, MAXXX-309, EmausBot, Hetonor, H3llBot, ChuispastonBot, Hamish59, 8ty3hree, Kspeccan, Rainingtomorrow, Wikifeediac and Anonymous: 66

9.2

Images

File:Coat_of_Arms_of_the_Nordic_Battlegroup.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Coat_of_Arms_

of_the_Nordic_Battlegroup.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors:
Olive branch: from Escudo de Valdearenas.svg by SanchoPanzaXXI Original artist: Ssolbergj
File:Command_sign_of_the_Nordic_Battlegroup_commander.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/
Command_sign_of_the_Nordic_Battlegroup_commander.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work, based on [1], [2] and
[3] Original artist: Ssolbergj
File:EU_Nordic_Battlegroup_2015.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/EU_Nordic_Battlegroup_2015.
svg License: CC0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Rainingtomorrow
File:Flag_of_Estonia.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Flag_of_Estonia.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: http://www.riigikantselei.ee/?id=73847 Original artist: Originally drawn by User:SKopp. Blue colour changed by User:PeepP
to match the image at [1].
File:Flag_of_Europe.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Flag_of_Europe.svg License: Public domain
Contributors:
File based on the specication given at [1]. Original artist: User:Verdy p, User:-x-, User:Paddu, User:Nightstallion, User:Funakoshi,
User:Jeltz, User:Dbenbenn, User:Zscout370
File:Flag_of_Finland.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Flag_of_Finland.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1978/19780380 Original artist: Drawn by User:SKopp
File:Flag_of_Ireland.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Flag_of_Ireland.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Drawn by User:SKopp Original artist:
File:Flag_of_Latvia.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Flag_of_Latvia.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Drawn by SKopp Original artist: Latvija
File:Flag_of_Lithuania.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Flag_of_Lithuania.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: SuKopp
File:Flag_of_Norway,_state.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Flag_of_Norway%2C_state.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Norway.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Flag_of_Norway.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Dbenbenn
File:Flag_of_Sweden.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Flag_of_Sweden.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

9.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0